The owners of the Wrap City sandwich shop chain have ramped up production of their signature potato chips at a new off-site facility and are beginning to sell them through grocery stores, butcher shops and delis.
Partners Gregg Ryan and Peter Ackerman started the first Wrap City in Londonderry in 2015, and now have a total of five stores, many of which are franchises. The pair is doubling down on a product that accompanies every sandwich order.
“When we started Wrap City … we decided to do something different instead of offering a pickle or a traditional bag of potato chips,” Ryan said.
Ryan said the homemade potato chips have become one of their most popular products.
The owners decided the chips could be another source of revenue, and a way to market their Wrap City brand, so they created Wrap City Wholesale LLC.
At first, they cooked the chips in the Londonderry kitchen and shared them with other stores as the chain grew, Ryan said. But that came to be unsustainable, Ackerman said. They found themselves unloading up to 80 50-pound bags of potatoes, one at a time, at the Londonderry store.
In January, they leased a 2,000-square-foot space at Corporate Park Drive in Derry, and invested about $150,000 in construction and equipment costs to create a central potato chip production facility, which became fully operational about four months ago. The wholesale company now has four employees, Ryan said.
Ackerman estimates they are producing about 5,000 pounds of chips per week, and the facility has the capacity to grow as the chain adds more stores. Early next year, two more stores are slated to open in Manchester and Derry.
“When we open the two new stores, that will increase another 20 percent,” Ackerman said.
About six months of the year was spent trying to find a single-source supplier of russet potatoes to ensure consistency of quality. The chain penned a deal with LaJoie Growers, a family-owned farm in Van Buren, Maine.
The wholesale chips are distributed by SnackAisle, a New Hampshire-based distributor that specializes in all-natural snack foods sold through boutique food stores, like Mr. Steer Meats in Londonderry, Prime Butcher in Hampstead and McKinnon’s Market in Portsmouth. Retail prices are set by the stores, and range from $2.79 to $2.99 for a 3-ounce bag.
The owners will be adding a 14-ounce bag option, but they say they aren’t in a rush to grow the wholesale side too fast, since they need to make sure they are making enough for their growing sandwich chain. Currently, about 80 percent or more of the chips made are sold through the sandwich shops.
“We don’t intend on slowing down the franchise growth,” Ackerman said.
Besides the two stores opening at the start of next year, they expect another two to open before the end of 2021, bringing the total stores to nine.
Chip production at the current facility has room to double its capacity, they said. After that, they’ll likely need to move.
“If we outgrow that space in the next year or 18 months, or at least maximize it, then we will be on the hunt to purchase a building,” Ackerman said.
The kettle-cooked potato chips are a “unique” recipe, Ryan said, which they created with some experimentation and balancing of simple ingredients.
“We like to take good simple ingredients, put them together to make something special and don’t burn it,” Ackerman said. “We take that approach with our potato chips, and we take that approach with our business.”
The Link LonkDecember 13, 2020 at 08:00AM
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Wrap City sandwich chain's potato chips coming to a store near you - The Union Leader
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